Drop boxes set up for unwanted medicines

Published 4:39 pm, Wednesday, August 22, 2012

A new drop box for unused medication is located in the Midland County Sheriff's Office as well as one in Graham's Pharmacy. Photo by Tim Fischer\ Reporter-Telegram

A new drop box for unused medication is located in the Midland County Sheriff's Office as well as one in Graham's Pharmacy. Photo by Tim Fischer\ Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Tim Fischer

Drop boxes set up for unwanted medicines

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Two permanent locations have been established for people who want to dispose of any unused or unwanted medicines.

The steel lock boxes, designed by The Bosworth Co., have been placed inside the lobby at the Midland County Sheriff's Office and near the pharmacy counter at Graham's Pharmacy.

The takeback initiatives led by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Midland Coalition still will occur on a quarterly basis, but these boxes give residents the chance to dispose of prescriptions and narcotics any time they want.

The Bosworth Co. has designed the boxes so someone cannot stick their hands in the box to retrieve medicines that have been dropped inside, said Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter. He said he was concerned some of the inmates working around the office would try to reach in and take out medicines.

The boxes are designed "in a way that you can't get anything out of it," he said.

A list of items that can be left in the boxes can be found on the front of each box.

Midland Coalition coordinator Kim Henderson said she plans to check the boxes on a weekly basis and that a deputy with the sheriff's office will sit with a volunteer to count and report the number of drugs collected.

The medicines and prescriptions then will be turned over to the DEA for proper disposal.

The project is sponsored by United Way of Midland, the Palmer Drug Abuse Program and the Jewish Philanthropic Union.

By having the drop boxes available to the community, officials hope to keep the drugs out of the city's water system and people who shouldn't have access to the medications.

"What we're doing is taking them off the streets where kids (do not have access) to them anymore," said Dr. Frank Kasman with the Jewish Philanthropic Union. "The more we can do, the better off we are."